Drilling out spot welds

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DaveEFI
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Drilling out spot welds

Post by DaveEFI »

Anyone got some tips on doing this on the usual car bodywork? Like best type of (electric) drill to us, etc. And is there anything better that the common spot weld cutter?
It's one those jobs I find a real chore and wondered if the pros have a better method.


Dave
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stevieturbo
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Post by stevieturbo »

There are specific drill bits you can buy.

But really cant think of any easy or quick way. Spot welds are a pain in the hole !

A good quality drill bit is probably quite decent.

Grinder is useless

Flap wheel in grinder great at removing metal...just no way to target it and it creates a lot of heat

Die grinder/carbide...sort of ok, but bloody messy and noisy.

Plasma....

Or in the video, some better spot weld drills than normally see for sale here.



That "spot weld" cutter is actually a great holesaw where you dont want a lot of swarf on the inside and a neat hole.
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unstable load
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Post by unstable load »

What about these little cutters? I haven't seen them used for spot welds before, but they should do the job perfectly well....
http://www.rotabroach.co.uk/cutters/mini-cutters
Cheers,
John

DaveEFI
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Post by DaveEFI »

unstable load wrote:What about these little cutters? I haven't seen them used for spot welds before, but they should do the job perfectly well....
http://www.rotabroach.co.uk/cutters/mini-cutters
I've not tried them, but guess they'd not be easy to use with hand held drill.
You generally need a central 'drill' of some sort to keep it from wandering.
Dave
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stevieturbo
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Post by stevieturbo »

Ive used the rotabroach for drilling holes before, they do work well.

The one I used needed a pilot hole though, so it isnt quite like the spot weld drill in the video. The point on the rotabroach is solid, not sprung loaded

Also the one I used, same as pictured above would be nowhere near as strong as that Eastwood spot weld set in the video.
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unstable load
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Post by unstable load »

Those Rotabroach bits do have a pilot in the form of a drill bit. They are basically a "hole saw" on steroids.
Cheers,
John

sowen
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Post by sowen »

I use the normal 5mm spot weld drills and if they've gone walkabout, a normal drillbit ground with a really shallow point, and carefully go in. Biggest problem I have is finding the true centre of the spotweld to only require minimal prying to break the remaining weld.

Drill of choice is a Bosch powerdrill, just because it's mine!
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DaveEFI
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Post by DaveEFI »

Had a look at the Eastwood site, and the kit shown in the video doesn't seem to be listed.

Also, what's the best drill speed?
Dave
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